Profile: Very few starting pitchers can be legitimately counted on to strike out a batter per inning. Volquez is one of them. He did it during his breakout 2008 campaign. He came very close to doing it in 2009, even as he suffered elbow pain that would eventually lead, in early August, to Tommy John surgery. And he did it upon returning to the Majors last year, pitching 62.2 innings after returning in mid-July. Of course, this isn't to say that Volquez is without flaw: even before his injury, he was generally incapable of walking fewer than four batters per nine. That's not so good. But given both his strikeout and ground-ball (46.0% career) rates, he profiles as a No. 1 pitcher, easy. Over his last four starts of the season (27.2 IP), he recorded 31 strikeouts against only eight walks, with no home runs allowed. He's likely to be undervalued in most drafts this season. (Carson Cistulli)

The Quick Opinion: Even without cutting walks, would be strong No. 2 or lower No. 1 fantasy starter. Will likely be undervalued in most drafts.

Profile: Volquez is one of the only Major-League-ready pieces headed to the Padres in the Mat Latos-for-prospects swap, and while common sense says that moving to the NL West and to PETCO Park in particular will be helpful to his ERA and WHIP, that may or may not be the case for Volquez. In 2011, 41 percent of plate appearances against Volquez ended with either a strikeout or a groundout, which is how Volquez is his most successful, but it’s not a style that’s aided or altered by PETCO’s cavernous dimensions. His walk rate is way too high, which is much of what pushed his WHIP over 1.50 last season, but the strikeouts are there and the NL West isn’t baseball’s best division right now. He’s worth a grab in the middle rounds of NL-only, and he’s at least an intriguing choice to fill out a rotation in mixed, but banking on him as anything more is hoping against hope. (Dan Wade)

The Quick Opinion: If the great expanses of PETCO help encourage Volquez to stick in the strike zone and avoid the walks that killed him in 2011, then the trade will have been a great success for fantasy owners. In all likelihood, because of his groundball tendencies, Volquez won’t be much better or worse than he was last season.

Profile: Last season, Volquez crossed the 10-win and 180-inning plateaus for just the second time in his career, and first time since 2008. That in and of itself should count as a victory. Unfortunately, Volquez has maintained his ridiculously high walk rate -- last year, his 13.1% BB% was the worst in the majors among 85 qualified starters. That led to a 1.45 WHIP, a mark that only five pitchers managed to "top." Volquez still strikes out hitters at a decent clip, but he has never really been able to get his walks under control, as 2012 marked the fourth straight season in which he walked at least 12.7 percent of the batters he faced. He *was* decent and figures to start the season in the San Diego rotation. However, he is certainly not a sure bet to finish the season in the San Diego rotation. Throughout 2013, the Padres are expecting the returns of starting pitchers Andrew Cashner, Cory Luebke and Joe Wieland, and if all three return that means that three veterans could be getting the heave-ho. Volquez may or may not be one of them, but either way, you want to keep a keen eye on how the season progresses in San Diego if you draft him. (Paul Swydan)

The Quick Opinion: As long as Volquez remains healthy and in San Diego, he will be a decent late-round grab in deep or NL-only leagues, but his walk rate and/or his WHIP (depending on your league parameters) make it unwise to take him off the board too early.

Profile: Pittsburgh's attention to defensive positioning helped pitchers like Francisco Liriano, A.J. Burnett, Charlie Morton, and Mark Melancon. Volquez's groundball tendencies should certainly enjoy the defensive support, but it cannot help him with his control problems. His 10% walk rate last year was his lowest over the past five seasons, and his issues with home runs finish the double-whammy on his ratios. He is capable of getting strikeouts, but chasing those strikeouts and wins will put a hurting on your ratios. A concern with his strikeouts is the fact his swing and miss rate dropped six percentage points last season, which was a main reason his strikeout rate fell below league average for the first time in his career. Command is the last thing that a pitcher gets back after returning from Tommy John surgery, but what we see of Volquez these days is what we get. It's not good. (Jason Collette)

The Quick Opinion: Command is the last thing that a pitcher gets back after returning from Tommy John surgery, but what we see of Volquez these days is what we get. It's not good.

Profile: Even after he recorded a 3.04 ERA in a bounce back campaign for the Pirates, there is still a lot of risk when it comes to drafting Edinson Volquez. He only struck out 140 batters despite throwing 192 innings, and now he will move to the American League for the first time since 2007. At least he will have a quality defense behind him in Kansas City. Volquez is a back end starter for the Royals -- even though his ERA was almost halved last year, his FIP of 4.15 was comparable to the past two years. Despite having a solid season in terms of fantasy performance last year with his low ERA and 13 wins, he has yet to throw over 200 innings and only has two seasons with an ERA below four. Volquez has gotten so many chances. He finally was able to perform last year, and cashed in on his breakout season, but there are serious questions as to whether he will be able to even come close to replicating that type of year in his first season with the Royals. With Volquez comes a lot of risk -- last year looks like the absolute high end in terms of results, which to me does not make him an attractive pick on draft day. (Ben Duronio)

The Quick Opinion: Let someone else bite on Volquez's mirage-breakout on draft day. Although he will move to another team with a quality defense, Volquez does not have the strikeout potential he once had and his underlying statistics suggest he will move back into the low four ERA range in the American League.

Profile: Volquez transitioned between leagues quite well after defecting from Pittsburgh to Kansas City, and brought some of his Searage magic with him, as he posted a nearly identical followup xFIP and better FIP with the Royals while breaking the 200-inning barrier for the first time in his career at age 32. The grounders tailed off a bit and so did his batting average on balls in play, but it would still seem the Hoover-esque Royals defense benefited him plenty, as he still remained solid despite below average strikeout rates and a walk rate above three per nine innings. How he'll age is anyone's guess, but put him in front of a good defense -- as it appears the Royals will do again in 2016 -- and he's a good bet to give you innings with moderate quality, as long as he can keep the walk rate under league average. (Brandon Warne)

The Quick Opinion: Volquez could be a sneaky add at the back of fantasy drafts, but he's far from a priority. Entering his mid-30s, there isn't any more ceiling to tap into, either.